A Shift In Perspective
by ConsumedByTheShadows
Summary: A boy wakes up as the famous Harry Potter. By the time that he realized who he was changes in the original story have already been made. How could waking up a kid from a nightmare change things this much?
1. Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares

A Shift In Perspective

Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter.

-I'm unsure on what the pairings will be so far.

 _\- "This means that someone is thinking"_

Moving into a new house was both an exciting and a tiring experience for me. I was exhausted from helping my parents move different pieces of furniture into our new home. By the time that we stopped for the day it was around ten o' clock in the evening. My mom and dad could tell that I was pretty happy for the break. However, I wasn't fully done setting things up for the night. While I was done with most of the other rooms there was still the matter of setting up my bedroom so I could sleep. Once I finished making my bed I quickly shed myself of most of my clothing and let the inviting warmth of my covers take me away to the sweet realm of unconsciousness.

Let it be said that I was wholly unprepared for what was awaiting me in the early hours of the morning. I was confused and groggy at getting up at what seemed like an ungodly hour to me. It was still early out as it was mostly dark with the sunlight just barely seeping through the window blinds. As I looked around to find the source of my poor disrupted sleep I became confused. " _This definitely isn't my new room… I know I just moved in and all, but this is just ridiculous."_ The room that I'm in now is completely different from my own.

What was once a nice dark green room was now a very light blue. There were yellow ducks that were painted inside what looked to be a dark blue lake on the walls. Lily pads and cattails were painted in the lake as well with the lily flowers in full bloom. My room had nothing but my dresser and my bed inside while there were obvious additions in this one. There was a chest that looked to be full of children's toys close to the door. There were also shelves that were filled with brightly colored picture books that sat along the walls.

My search was abruptly cut off by a small whimper that sounded like it was fairly close to me. I craned my head to look for the source of the noise and found the culprit right away. A small child was tossing and turning in his sleep in a small closed off bed to my right. His covers were bunched up at his feet from all of his movements. He looked to be trembling in fear in what was most likely a nightmare. I was wondering who the hell this kid was before realizing that he didn't seem as small as he should be. This was alarming considering that I just turned fourteen not that long ago. I looked around at the room again before taking a look at myself.

What I noticed right away was that everything looks bigger than it should be. Even though I was sitting up on a bed it was pretty obvious. I clenched my small fists together before staring down at them in dismay. Taking off my covers did nothing to relieve me of my fears. Short legs and small feet greeted my sight instead of my larger ones. I was covered in red pajama pants and a black shirt rather than my black boxers that I only kept on the night before. I held my head in my hands as the implications of this room and what my own body now looks like went through my mind.

A few moments passed where I didn't move from my hunched over position. Nothing but the occasional soft cries from the child next to me was heard in the room. I decided to get up and carefully climb down from my bed. After landing on the soft pillows beside it I compared my height to my surroundings once again. The difference was even more noticeable now that the added height from my bed was lost. I unsteadily got to my feet and slowly walked up to the only other bed against the wall on the other side of the room. _"I might as well wake him from the nightmare… I doubt he's getting properly rested with all of that tossing and turning."_ With my mind made up I walked to the end of the bed where the kid's feet rested.

I looked up at the kid's bed and figured that it shouldn't be too hard to climb into it on my own. I moved a larger pillow to where I was previously standing before hopping on top of it. With the extra height I was able to lift myself onto the mattress. Not making a sound I crawled to the middle of the bed and gently shook the scared boy. His reaction was almost immediate as he lurched up from his laying position to look at me. Tears immediately began to slide down the kid's cheeks and without further ado he promptly pulled me into a crushing hug.

As I awkwardly sat with the kid wrapped around me I tried to gently wriggle my way out of his hold. His response was to pull me closer and put his head to my neck in order to cry on my shoulder. There was no escape for me now that my hands were trapped between us. Minutes went by without much happening. I was still sitting on my knees and waiting for the kid to let me go. Suddenly I was being pulled to lie down on my side. The kid quickly moved so that he had his arms and legs around me before laying his head against my chest. With my arms now free I gave up on escaping his hold and wrapped them around his back. He slowly stopped shaking and his breathing evened out.

" _It looks like I didn't need to say anything to comfort the kid. Although I'm in an awkward position now…"_ I thought about how it might be uncomfortable after we both wake up _. "I don't know the kid at all, but it sure looked like he recognized me. You don't just snuggle into a stranger like this after a nightmare."_ My thoughts eventually slowed as my body gave into its exhaustion and I passed out as well.

I woke up even more tired than the last time. Still half asleep, I snuggled into the warmth that was wrapped around me like a blanket. I gave out a small contented sigh before settling down. Soft sounds of someone giggling reached my ears before I fell asleep again. A few more hours went by before I woke up properly.


	2. Chapter 1: Waking Up

A Shift In Perspective

Chapter 1: Waking Up

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series.

 _-"This means that someone is thinking"_

When I woke up for the third time I decided that I had enough rest and attempted to get up. However, I was met with resistance in the form of a child that was slightly bigger than me. It looks like we are still in the same position as when we fell asleep. After trying and failing to break free from the never ending hug I took a glance at my captor. Sleepy eyes slowly blinked up at me.

With a yawn he closed them again and snuggled deeper into my chest. I decided to wait it out for a few more minutes before voicing my protest. The kid was pretty adorable up close now that I could see him. _"Damn my soft spot for cute things!"_ I grumbled to myself for a while before taking any actions.

Hesitantly I spoke up and said, "I have to get up." The little boy only groaned his protest before pulling me closer to him. _"This might be harder to accomplish than I thought…"_ I ruffled his hair before I tried to think of another tactic. When I thought of an actual excuse I said, "I have to go to the bathroom. Could you let me up?" I'm hoping that I got through to him this time.

With another tired groan the boy slowly unlatched his arms and legs from me and sat up. He rubbed his eyes for a bit before focusing on me. I smiled at him before I slid myself down the bed and landed on the soft pillow that I left on the floor. As I sat up and crawled off the large pillow I heard a shuffling sound that was coming from above me. Looking up I saw that the kid was copying my previous motions and held onto the edge of the bed before dropping onto the pillow that I got off of.

I figured that he probably had to go to the bathroom as well so I didn't think much of his actions. This would actually help me seeing as I have no idea where the bathroom door is. _"Yeah, I didn't think that plan through did I?"_ I waited for the child to stand up and headed over to the only door in the room. The kid met me there as I tried to think of a way to reach the door knob. The boy answered my unvoiced question when he dragged a small plastic stool up to the door before stepping on it and opening the door himself. I stood next to the door as he placed the stool back in its spot beside the dresser before following him out of the room.

The bathroom door was a short way down the hall and had a door stopper jammed underneath it _. "This must be so that we can get in since the adults aren't going to be up at all hours of the day."_ I looked at the kid before he made a shooing motion towards the door. With his confirmation that I could go first I went right in. Once I was finished relieving myself I got off of the child safe seat, flushed the toilet, and climbed up the plastic steps that were next to the sink. With my hands washed I walked out of the room only to find the boy sitting close to the exit.

He looked up at me as I exited the bathroom before standing up and taking hold of my right arm. I was pulled back into the room before he let go of me and shut the door. _"I guess he isn't usually up at this time. It might be suspicious of me if I were to wander the house on my own if I'm not supposed to be up now."_ With my mind made up I walked back to my bed and climbed onto it before burrowing back underneath my covers. As I lay on my back I heard the kid moving along the floor before I relaxed enough to fall asleep again.

This time when I woke up it was to a fairly sunny room. I felt a weight along most of my body that wasn't there when I first got into bed. Looking down I can't say that I was too surprised by what I saw. The kid was sprawled across the bed with the upper half of his body lying on top of me. He had his arms wrapped around me with his head once again on my chest. He was under my covers and there was a slight snoring coming from the sleeping kid that made me not want to jostle him by moving.

As I lay here I relaxed and wondered about a few things _. "How much sleep does this kid need? Also why didn't he go to the bathroom after I left?"_ I was lost in my thoughts with my eyes closed before I heard the bedroom door slowly open. A head of blonde hair greeted my tired eyes as I tried to focus on what was happening. All I saw was a surprised expression on the woman's face before she silently shut the door without a sound.

" _Well that was odd. I see that she didn't freak out about a kid that shouldn't be in her house. Though that surprised face as she left must mean something… Maybe she was going to wake us up, but something was off? Maybe this arrangement isn't really a normal occurrence…"_ I looked around with my now limited vision and spotted a clock hanging on the wall. It clearly stated that it was 11:34 a.m. I thought about how I could possibly be this tired at such a late time before dozing for another half an hour.

I was woken from my half asleep state by the same blonde woman from earlier in the morning. She was gently shaking both me and the other child before saying, "It's time to wake up sleepyheads. Lunch will be done in a little bit." After making sure that I was going to stay up she turned her attention to me. "Could you make sure that he gets up this time?" I nodded at her question before she gave a slight smile and turned to leave the room.

Now that I knew that we should be up I focused on trying to make the kid on top of me stay awake. I poked his arm before trying to sit up. With my attempt to move the boy mumbled to himself before tiredly sliding himself off of me. _"Wow that didn't take much for him to move this time."_ I thought before making my way down the bed and onto the floor. Once I turned my attention back to him I saw that he was curled up in my blankets, but his eyes were trying to focus on me.

I gave him a beckoning motion before inching towards the door. He gave a sigh before crawling his way out of my covers and climbed down my bed. A minute later and we were both walking out the door. Weirdly enough the kid chose to take my arm again while we were walking to what I hoped was the kitchen. We went down the stairs to the first floor and took a turn to a room that thankfully led us to our destination. The woman who woke us up had her back turned to us while she was finishing what was most likely our lunch.


	3. Chapter 2: Revealing The Truth

Chapter 2: Revealing The Truth

Disclaimer: Same as before.

I cleared my throat and waved at the woman once she spun around to face us. She smiled before lifting both of us into our chairs at the table. Then she focused on the other child. "Good morning honey. Did you get some sleep last night? I was surprised to see you in Harry's bed this morning." 'Honey' blushed slightly before happily saying, "Yeah Harry kept the nightmares away!" The grin that he was sporting was contagious as the lady and I were soon wearing one as well.

This turned her attention to me. "Did you now? How did you manage that Harry?" Her tone sounded very curious while her face showed pure relief at the fact that her son managed to get some sleep. I looked around in embarrassment before focusing on the floor. "I woke him up from a bad dream." I looked up at her before continuing. "Once he woke up he wouldn't stop hugging me." My cheeks tinged red as I kept going. "I gave up on getting away and he went to sleep again. After I got up to go to the bathroom I went back in my bed and woke up to him sleeping on me."

"That was pretty adorable to see this morning." She lightly laughed at me as my face became red again. I only pouted while looking away, which made her laugh even louder. 'Honey' soon joined in, and I did shortly after him. "Well it's good that you both got some sleep last night. Anyways, the food is all done now." She walked back to the table and served us all our plates.

We all dug into the food and I found it to be excellent. "This is great, thanks for the food." The kid chimed in shortly after that saying, "Yeah, this is really good mum!" She smiled at our comments before tucking back into her meal. We finished our lunch at a steady pace before being let down from the higher chairs.

Once we were down I had no idea of what to do. I wasn't familiar with the house, and I didn't know if I should actually be doing anything. _"I doubt that I really have chores or expectations at this young of an age. I'm probably supposed to be playing or something."_ Suddenly the blonde child took my arm again and pulled me away from the kitchen. _"Here we go again,"_ I thought as we made our way back into the bedroom.

The kid let go of me as soon as we were in the room and he raced to get to the toy chest. Many toys were taken out before he found what he was looking for. He hauled the large amount of blocks out of the chest and placed them all in a pile. A look of total concentration took over his face as he arranged the blocks in a specific order. "I did it! Harry, look what I did!" He pointed at the blocks that read out as 'DUDLEY'. "Look I spelled my name!" He proudly looked at his creation while I felt a sense of unease.

It felt like I should recognize his name. _"Where have I heard of that name? It's not common where I'm from at all…"_ I decided to try to make it easier on me to guess by asking a question. "What about your last name? Can you spell that too?" He whirled around and said, "Of course silly. I can do it right now." With that said he began to piece together his last name for me. He covered his work until it was finished.

A happy, "Done!" was said before he revealed it to me. I looked at the visible 'DURSLEY' that was spelled out with slight irritation. _"It's on the tip of my tongue. I should know that name, but from where?"_ A thought suddenly struck me. _"Oh no. It can't possibly be that. Although I doubt that he would lie about his own name."_ He grinned and told me to make my name now. I did so with a feeling of dread. _"If I'm wrong he'll laugh at me, which won't be too bad, but if I'm right…"_

I made 'HARRY' with no problems at all since I heard the blonde haired woman and Dudley call me that. However, when it came to my last name I hesitated. I slowly picked up a 'P' and placed it down. Hearing no objections I continued to spell out what I thought it was. When I finished, the damning letters of 'HARRY POTTER' were lying on the ground before me. I released a sigh when I didn't hear any negative comment about it from Dudley. He just sat with a smile on his face and told me that he wanted to spell out the alphabet now.

We played with different toys in the bedroom for a few hours before I became lost in thought. _"Ok so I'm Harry Potter. I can use magic then right? Well not now anyways unless it's accidental, or maybe not. Riddle was able to use it with no problems after a lot of practice, and he grew up without a magical guardian just like I am right now. From what I saw in the movies no one was able to tell that he used magic since he wasn't using a wand with the Trace on it. I can try to use that to my advantage if I can stay out of sight from my family when I practice."_ My thoughts were then geared towards my surprisingly nice family.

" _Weirdly enough my home life is a lot different than I expected. There's the fact that Dudley apparently has no issues with me and the woman who was most likely Petunia wasn't angry towards me either. I haven't seen Vernon or his sister Marge yet, and I don't know how they'll act around me. Things are already different than what I would have expected growing up as the boy-who-lived."_ Many thoughts were swirling around my head for a while until Dudley broke me out of it.

I was suddenly aware of a hand that was waving madly in front of my face. "Haaarrryyy? Hey do you want to ask mum with me if we can go to the park?" I nodded absently before I stood up to follow him out. He let out a whoop of joy before speeding down the stairs to go ask Petunia. I walked down the steps at a more sedated pace to find Dudley jumping up and down in his excitement. He seemed to gain even more energy as he noticed me walking towards them.

"Hey mum! Me and Harry want to go to the park today. Can you take us there please?" Petunia smiled at us before agreeing shortly after. We all went to grab our shoes and headed out the front door. As we walked there I began to slowly accept this as my new life. _"Maybe it won't be so bad living as Harry this time around. I think I'll be alright if I continue to have a more accepting family than in the original story."_ A smile slowly grew on my face from the optimistic thoughts. In no time we found ourselves across the street from the park.


End file.
